Israel's attacks on Damascus hinder chemical weapons search: Syrian official

Al Arabiya

17-07-2025

Israeli airstrikes on Damascus are hampering Syria's efforts to find and destroy chemical weapons stockpiled during the rule of toppled ruler Bashar al-Assad, a government adviser said on Thursday.
A planned visit by inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has already had to be postponed, adviser Ibrahim Olabi said.
The OPCW will hold an urgent meeting on Tuesday next week to discuss the situation and impact of the Israeli attacks, Olabi, who is the legal adviser to Syria's Foreign Ministry tasked with the chemical weapons file, said.
The OPCW did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Israel launched powerful airstrikes on Damascus on Wednesday, blowing up part of the defense ministry and hitting near the presidential palace, taking action it said was to protect the Druze minority in southern Syria.
The Syrian defense ministry provided the institutional infrastructure needed to organize and secure visits from OPCW inspectors, Olabi said.
Since March there have been several visits by inspectors to previously unseen production and storage locations for chemical weapons to prepare for the task of destroying remnants of Assad's illegal stockpile. Syria's interim-government has vowed to rid itself of chemical weapons.
The OPCW, a treaty-based agency in The Hague with 193 member countries, is tasked with implementing the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention.